Γνωστικό ΑντικείμενοΚλάδος ΠΕ06-Αγγλικής Γλώσσας

1.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Another high-energy day is beginning for Jill O’Reagan. It’s a good thing the family car has a full tank because the 47-year-old mum is on her daily rounds, dropping her two children off at their schools, squeezing in the shopping for the day, dashing to work as a school cook, collecting the kids home and then to evening lessons and clubs while fitting in washing, tumble-drying, cooking for hubby and kids, showering and vacuuming.

2.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp It needs energy, mostly directly or indirectly from fossil-fuels, that produces carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Add in their holiday flights and the O’Reagans are well on their way to notching up the national average of 12.5 tons of CO2 emissions per person per year. “That’s equivalent to a metre-square stack of gas over four miles high”, says Chris Goodall, author of How to Live a Low-Carbon Life (Earthscan). It’s a figure scientists say must be slashed to well below three tons if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change. Life, though, is hectic. “My average-sized family have got better at recycling, and unplugging the TV,” but Jill admits, “We could do more.”

3.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The good news, according to an exclusive Reader’s Digest poll that looks at how green we really are, is that many of us are managing small, daily changes at home. We asked 2,006 adults about energy-saving measures they have adopted in the past year and what their habits had been before that. Three-quarters of us now switch off appliances we used to leave on standby. Sixty-five percent say that all the light bulbs they use are low-energy, while 60% have got on top of home insulation and 53% run the washing machine full at 30 degrees.

4.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp However some simple changes remain elusive. A full 81% haven’t yet switched to green electricity, while half are still unwilling to abandon their energy-guzzling tumble-dryers and dishwashers.

5.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Less surprising is that most of us fall short when it comes to making significant life-style changes. Brits are frequent flyers, with air travel causing 5½% of our carbon emissions compared with 3% worldwide. Only a measly 3% gave up flying last year. Only 2% stopped using the car – through not for want of trying. “I’m resigned to driving,” says RD reader Maggie Corbett, 60, a TV extra from Ripon, who otherwise recycles, buys local food and has insulated her home. “I can’t get to work for 7 when there is no train anymore and the 1st bus is at 7.30. To visit my son in Bath I go cheaper and quicker by plane, Leeds-Bradford to Bristol & then a short train jump instead of 11 hrs on a bus via London for 2”.

6.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The message about changing our food-buying is getting through. More than a quarter have decided to buy with less packaging in the last 12 months with 33% doing so before that. 19% sought out organic while 15% bought from local shops or markets rather than supermarkets from where purchasers buy excessively and throw away half. “People feel they can do something with food,” says sociologist Steven Yearley, author of Cultures of Environmentalism. “They can’t stop deforestation, but can go organic or local without much effort.”

7.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Women are consistently greener than men whose prestige comes through ownership of gas-guzzlers and conspicuous consumerism. People with money to burn are more likely to do so on flights and cars. 71% in the affluent bracket said they had not given up flying compared with 55% of the less well-off, and they also use their cars more.

8.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Over 55s are greener than the young. They take conventional showers rather than wasteful baths or use rapid heaters, and insulate their homes but keep the thermostat at 18ºC. “Thrift learned in the post-war period may play a part,” adds Yearley.

9.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Overall, though, we are only a paler shade of green. Without more concerted future action, the future is bleak.

(654 words) By Chloe Bryan-Brown Reader’s Digest May 2008.

Read the text quickly and decide which of the titles below captures the essence of the article.

Old habits die hard

Coming Clean about Green

The Green we should be

The poorer, the greener

Who is this article addressed to?

Environmental scientists

Academics

Environmentally conscious individuals

The general public

What is the most valuable recommendation to come out of the survey reported in this article?

The better off need to move towards a more environmentally friendly lifestyle

The general population should adopt older women’s thinking on the issue

The realization that there is still much to be done to achieve a truly green lifestyle

The people who had learnt to exercise thriftiness set good examples

According to the survey, in which area do the British find it most difficult to make changes? Habits associated with

energy consumption

transportation methods

food buying routines.

use of natural resources

According to the article, how much carbon dioxide does the average British family produce/emit per year?

9,5 tons

50 tons

12,5 tons

3 tons

According to the article, how much carbon dioxide should the average person produce per year?

9,5 tons

50 tons

12,5 tons

2,5 tons

According to the survey, what seems to be the habit that the British have most readily adopted?

They use public transport.

They buy organic produce locally

They reduce electricity consumption

They use recycling facilities

According to the survey, the British

produce 3 tons of CO2 emissions per person annually

have made significant lifestyle changes to become more environmentally friendly

have changed their approach to shopping for food

approach double the world average of CO2 air travel emissions

The British prefer to shop locally for food because

food in local shops comes with less packaging

local shops sell organic products

local shops don’t throw away food.

from local shops they buy what they need

From the survey it becomes evident that the least environmentally conscious social group is

working mothers with little spare time.

affluent men who live in London

middle aged women with careers.

people under the age of 55

What does the author imply by the expression “we are only a paler shade of green” (par. 9)?

The British have become more environmentally friendly than before

The British are very close to becoming truly environmentally friendly

The British are slowly becoming environmentally friendly but there is still much to be done

The British are far from being environmentally friendly

According to the article, why do the British seem reluctant to using public transport? Because pubic transport

is more expensive.

does not fit with the demands of modern life.

is not always available

is not convenient/comfortable

According to the survey, the British seem to have a poor record compared to other nationalities in reducing their

journeys by car.

consumption of electricity

amount of air travel

waste disposal routines

The sentence “ Londoners are wedded to cars and planes” could best be placed:

in paragraph 5, after the sentence that ends “though not for want of trying”.

at the end of paragraph 5.

in paragraph 7, after the sentence “people with money to burn are more likely to do so on flights and cars”.

at the end of paragraph 7.

It’s a high-energy day (par. 1) because it is a day when

everyone is very busy rushing to work

everybody remembers energy concerns

Jill has to go to lots of places by car.

Jill and others will expend much energy

In paragraph 2, “notching up” could be replaced by

raising.

conquering.

gaining.

achieving

In paragraph 3, to “have got on top of home insulation” means the home dweller has

insulated the basement, walls and floors

learnt the way in which home insulation works

got around to having insulation installed in the home

installed the best quality insulation throughout

In paragraph 3, what does “full at 30 degrees” when doing a wash mean? To run the machine

for a long time at 30 degrees

at 30 degrees maximum

at its fullest which is 30 degrees

with a full load at 30 degrees

In paragraph 4, the word “elusive” could be replaced by

deceptive.

puzzling.

remote.

baffling

In paragraph 5, the expression “fall short” is near the meaning of being

In paragraph 6, “People feel they can do something with food” tells readers that according to Mr. Yearley the members of the public feel they can

cook inventively

organize dinner parties

eat healthy meals

implement some green habits.

In paragraph 7, the expression “conspicuous consumerism” denotes someone who

spends a lot of money on unnecessary things

exercises care and thrift about what he/she buys.

acquires expensive things in order to show off.

buys less than he/she really needs

ΚΕΙΜΕΝΟDo Seat Belt Laws Work? by John Semmens

1.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Many states that have passed mandatory seat belt-use laws have required that evidence of the law's effectiveness be produced for the law to escape automatic expiration. A recently published report from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety purports to be the needed evidence for the extension of Arizona's seat belt law. Unfortunately, these kinds of reports have neither asked nor answered the right questions.

2.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Proving that people suffer more severe and expensive injuries when they're not wearing seat belts belabours the obvious. No credible opponent of seat belt laws has disputed that seat belts can save wearers from death and injury. To present statistics that never were in doubt as the longawaited evidence fails to deal with the unresolved issue of whether requiring seat belt use is good public policy.

3.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Critics of seat belt laws have contended that they alter driver behavior in ways that increase the hazards for other users of the streets and highways. In particular, some drivers wearing seat belts may feel more assured of surviving an accident, and hence tend to drive more aggressively, thus raising the risk of collisions with other vehicles and pedestrians.

4.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp In the early 1970s, a few challenges to the presumed safety benefits of increased auto safety regulations appeared in lightly read academic journals and suggested that mandated safety devices (seat belts, better bumpers, collapsible steering wheels) might lead to faster driving that could offset the safety gains and that safer autos would lead to more aggressive driving that would endanger other users of the roads.

5.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp This earlier research has been mostly ignored or dismissed in favor of adherence to more simplistic research that, unsurprisingly, proves that crashtest dummies suffer more damage without safety devices. Crash-test dummies, of course, cannot have their driving behavior altered by a perception of greater crash survivability. Consequently, the research with dummies doesn't refute the hypothesis that driver behavior might be changed and thus negate or reduce some of the anticipated safety gains.

6.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp The plausibility of the aggressive driver hypothesis cries out for more research. For example, Hawaii, the state with the most rigorously enforced seat belt law and the highest compliance rate in the nation, has experienced an increase in traffic fatalities and fatality rates since its law went into effect in December 1985.

7.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp This is not to say that the seat belts are killing vehicle occupants. Clearly enough crash-test dummies have smashed into enough auto windshields and dashboards to convince all but the most obstinate that wearing a seat belt is probably a good idea. What, then, is going on in Hawaii? Well, we don't know. But the data do not support a smug assurance that forcing people to wear seat belts is without potential undesirable outcomes.

8.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Professor Christopher Garbacz of the University of Missouri-Rolla undertook a recent statistical study of states with and without seat belt laws. This study seems to support the altered driver behavior hypothesis. Dr. Garbacz found that states with seat belt laws saw decreases in traffic fatalities for those covered by the laws(typically drivers and front-seat passengers), but increases in fatalities for rear-seat passengers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

9.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp This suggests a significantly less optimistic interpretation of the impact of seat belt laws than the prevailing orthodoxy would allow. Forcing unwilling motorists to wear seat belts may save their lives and reduce their injuries. Disconcertingly, though, seat belt laws appear to be increasing the hazards for other users of the roads.

10.&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp. Deciding whether this apparent shift in risk is an acceptable cost of a seat belt law is a far different proposition from pretending that there is no significant cost. Policy-makers may be satisfied that the benefits of a seat belt law outweigh the costs. However, a humane public policy demands that those who may ultimately pay the costs be warned of the potential increased risks they face on the streets and highways. To do less is to endanger some of the least protected users of our roads.